Ikea testing online second-hand furniture marketplace

Ikea said the global second-hand furniture market was growing rapidly, with a projected annual growth rate of 6.4 percent in 2024. Image: Brandon Bell / Getty Images North America / Getty Images via AFP

Swedish flatpack furniture retailer Ikea said Monday it had launched an online marketplace for its second-hand furniture, enabling customers to sell directly to each other.

"We are testing a digital second-hand marketplace in Oslo and Madrid to help customers connect, buy, and sell preowned Ikea items between each other," Tolga Oncu, head of retail at Ikea Retail told AFP, confirming a report in the Financial Times.

Called Ikea Preowned, the marketplace opened for a trial period this summer and will continue until December, the company said.

"After December we will evaluate and decide on the next steps," Oncu said.

The move is the company's latest initiative to address concerns that its affordable, flat-pack business model leads to overconsumption and waste.

It has previously unveiled plans to rent, repair and recycle furniture, with the aim of being a circular business by 2030.

But unlike previously, when Ikea bought customers' used furniture, fixed it up and resold it in its stores, customers can now sell directly to each other on the platform.

Ikea said the global second-hand furniture market was growing rapidly, with a projected annual growth rate of 6.4 percent in 2024.

It said Ikea products make up 10 percent of the second-hand home furnishing market.

The move is also part of the company's shift from previously offering only large warehouse stores outside cities to now offering smaller locations in city centres and online shopping.